Cooley

I can't speak to teams prior to 1975-1976. On paper, our current group, looks to be as good or better than any team since Blakely's teams of the mid to late 70's. The 75-76 group (22-4) was clearly the best; with the most talent. Current Roster/Team vs. 1975-1976 Roster/Team 2011-2012 4th place (West Division) Sunbelt Conference tournament finalist 9-7 Conference Record; 18-14 Overall Avg. attendance of over 4,000 (student enrollment of 36,000; Denton population of 113,000 Estimated ranking in Texas vs. other Texas programs: 1) Baylor 2) Texas A&M 3) Texas 4) UTA (28 point loss) 5) Texas Tech (loss) Tournament Bid(s) – None 65 Team NCAA Field 32 Team (NIT) 16 Team (CBI) 32 Team (CIT) 1975-1976 Last National Ranking (17th or 18th) Consensus Best Team in Texas (Texas Sportswriters); Ahead of Houston, Baylor, Texas & Texas A&M 1) North Texas 2) West Texas State 22-4 Record (School Record at the time) Tournament Bid(s) – None Team finished 22-4 but as an independent, was not invited to the 32 team NCAA tournament or 12 team NIT. No other tournaments existed. Outrage in Denton! Keep in mind the era this team participated in: No PC’s (internet – Facebook, Twitter) No Rivals Rating No AAU ball No Summer camps in Texas No Texas Hoops.com No You-Tube/BallisLife video Tony Mitchell is the only current member who starts on the1975-1976 team; additionally, no current bench player plays ahead of the 75 bench. Player comparisons PG – Weasel Johnson > Chris Jones Earl King > Trey Norris, PJ Hardwick SG – Carl Jones > Brandon Walton Danny Kaspar = Alzee Williams SF Fred Mitchell > Jeffrey Patton, Jordan Willams, Roger Franklin Waymond Lister > Jeffrey Patton, Jordan Williams, Roger Franklin PF Terry Bailey > Niko Sto, C Kenneth Williams > Keith Coleman Kenneth Williams – 1st Team All-State Class 4A (State semi-finals); Led nation in rebounding Weasel Johnson, All Conference McLennon JC Earl King, All-State (Chicago, Ill) Fred Mitchell – Player of the year (4A) One publication; MVP –TX HS All Star Game Waymond Lister – 1st Team All-State (MVP – Texas HS All Star Game) Terry Baily – All-American, Henderson County JC. (Texas Eastern Conference 1st team) Melvin Davis – All State Greenville HS; NBA If Rivals existed in 1975: HS Recruits: Fred Mitchell – 3 Star (Top 10 State Ranking) Kenneth Williams – 4 Star (Top 10 State Ranking) Waymond Lister – 3 Star (Top 20 State Ranking) Melvin Davis - 4 Star (Top 10 State Ranking) We added in 76-77, Jon Manning and Charles McMllian (SOC All-Time Great) McMillian was #1 ranked recruit in Dallas and 1st Team All-State (State Runner up 4A) Juco, All-American from Tyler Junior College. National recruit. Team finished 22-4 but was an independent and was not invited to a 32 team NCAA tournament due to automatic spots for conference champs. (or 16 team NIT. No other tournaments existed. Average attendance was about 5,000 with a student enrollment of 17,000 and Denton population of 40,000 Fred Mitchell http://amarillo.com/stories/062802/spo_forhallof.shtml http://amarillo.com/stories/012504/mor_pshpast.shtml Melvin “Lurch” Davis http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1755&dat=19780708&id=cyMhAAAAIBAJ&sjid=emcEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3747,3197206 http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1368&dat=19780907&id=5YBRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=_xEEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6674,1183289 Kenneth Williams http://www.unt.edu/50yearsofprogress/athleticeventbreakers.htm http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/news?slug=ac-7160366 Texas HS All Star Game MVP’s 17-All-Star Narratives - DrBillyWilbanks.com 1971 – Carl Jones 1974 – Fred Mitchell 1975 – Waymond Lister The 1975-1976 teams beats the current team 8 out of 10 games; average of 8-10 point victories. I’m all for our current guys advancing to the final four and all but enough of this best ever talk.

Not even close

Pretty sure that's not the locker room at Cowboys Stadium. Was just in there Sunday on Father's Day.

http://ballislife.com/68-tony-mitchell-north-texas-future-pro-dominating-the-dallas-open-runs/

photo http://www.maxpreps.com/local/player/photo/full_size.aspx?athleteid=37cbabc7-5fe6-43fa-b753-a8875cf25e8f&ssid=61c3c85c-e2fb-45d7-841a-0573891bad91#photoid=38a4a046-85de-4c5e-b7c5-7703a85b0d58

Didn't have a great senior year but does have a ton of talent. Maybe he can regain his form at Midland. Jim Hicks from RCS "Often our players don't bring it every single day, and that is a must if you want to be acknowledged as elite. One bad game against a lesser rated opponent, and some folk have no idea how many emails I will get (either roasting or toasting one of the kids). Maybe Sanders (a 10th grader who led his varsity in scoring and assists) didn't quite live up to his hype at St Thomas HS? The question should be - How many St Thomas HS players did live up to the hype this season? Whew-wee, man don't even get me started... Speaking of players who didn't live up to the hype... let's just put it nicely and state that this wasn't the best weekend for Anthony Norris 6'6 w (Sam Houston HS 2011), whom is rated #65 nationally by Rivals.com. All of us have a bad hair day every so often, but in the case of Norris - hopefully this serves as a warning shot of motivation. If you are ranked among the tops in the nation, committed to a big time D1 program, and (on two separate occassions) don't seize the opportunity to dominate a team of 9th graders, then it concerns me (and it probably concerns the coaching staff at Memphis as well). And this is by no means an attempt to tear down the spirits of Norris, he's a great respectable young man. But when you have a certain number on your back, the constructive criticism comes with the territory"

http://ballislife.com/4th-grade-basketball-phenom-mike-miles-the-point-guard-prodigy/

There's enough land at Fouts for the hotel/convention center, mega parking garage and academic building. Additionally, a basketball practice facility. Overall, enough room for a nice size junior college. With a pedestrian bridge, the hotel makes more sense at Fouts.

Oh well, seems like Edo has blown up even more after last weekend's GASO in Carrollton: SUPERMAN Soma Edo of the Dallas Mustangs-Booker (Richardson Berkner) is the most electrifying player in the state no matter the class, and during the GASO Memorial Tip Off, Edo showed why. His quick instincts made him a tough match up once the ball was in the air. Edo was flying over defenders and even showed a bit of a mid-range game. He did however, step out beyond the three point line and drained the occasional three-pointer. Though he hit the open three, he was most effective around the basket. On the defensive end of the ball, Edo is a threat to block every shot that an opponent puts up, and his rebounding skills were tremendous. http://texashoops.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1370675

http://texashoops.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1369677 Mustangs advance, get revenge The Dallas Mustangs-Booker defeated the Texas Tigers Elite, 79-69, to advance to the quarterfinals. The Mustangs' first-round game, however, may have been more memorable. The Mustangs defeated Islanders Basketball Foundation, 69-44, in their first bracket-play game and erased the frustration of GASO play two years ago. IBF beat the Mustangs twice during the summer of 2010 in separate NCAA Division championship games. The Mustangs advanced to the quarterfinals late Sunday by holding off a scrappy Tigers team. The Mustangs led the Tigers by 12 at the half and cruised in the second half. Soma Edo scored a game-high 20 points, while Jeffrey Carroll and Leyton Hammonds each had 15 for the Mustangs.

http://ballislife.com/65-keith-frazier-has-serious-nba-range-official-ballislife-junior-season-mixtape/

Actually, I think his game has improved immensely since his freshman year. An impact guy down low (at 6-6) that can dominate much taller bigs; with his athleticism. Reminds me of Quincy Acy of Mesquite Horn/Baylor. Explosive leaper that you have to have on the court. Relentless on the offensive and defensive boards. Great shot blocker! Grabs all lob passes anywhere near the goal for monster dunks. Very broad shoulders on a man's body. Old school game.

Physically, the kid looks like a player but I have yet to see anything close to a mid major in 2 years. Unless he improves dramatically over the summer, I don't understand the offer. Not the type of talent to upgrade or sustain what we have. Fallen down to 45 on Tx Hoops.

I generally don't make all the home games these days. If after this year we play a SunBelt team in football, I will honestly say that I will probably not make that game.

Got all my 8-tracks from Gibsons

Johnathon Motley 6'8 North Shore Brandon Williams 6'8 Episcopal Xavier Dupree 6'7 Alief Taylor Tavario Miller 6'7 Wheatley Dylan Jones 6'7 The Village Parker Callendar 6'7 Clear Springs Andrew Kelly 6'8 Klein Kendell Ramlal 6'7 Episcopal Anthony Young 6'10 Van Vleck John Paul Odenewa 6'7 St Pius Josh Graham 6'9 Katy Taylor Bobby Reeves 6'8 Furr Traylin Farris 6’7 Manvel Hunter Leahy 6'7 Kingwood Trevor Nelligan 6'7 The Woodlands Daniel Fitwater 6'7 Liberty

http://www.nikeeyb.com/ Went out to the Fieldhouse USA complex today in Frisco for the Nike EYBL AAU National Tournament. (Best venue for AAU type tournaments in the area with 12 courts) I found myself standing right next to Fran Fraschilla while waiting for the MeanStreet game (UNT target Kendall Polland of Simeon HS in Chicago) Fran is very engaging and was striking up conversations with practically everyone around him. The guy likes to mix and mingle and a very genuine way. Can't be much taller than 5-6. Anyway, I introduced myself as a UNT fan/alum that had closely monitoring the coaching search. Told him that I had been pulling for him to land the job so that he could bring some of his European connections with him. Man, the guy opened up to me like we had been buddies for years. With a very youthful smile, he said the situation was a win win. He would have been ecstatic to have been selected but he also loves only working 5 months out the year at ESPN. Another advantage of not being selected, he said, was maintaining his black hair. Fran felt that North Texas made a great hire in Tony Benford and stated the future is extremely bright for the Mean Green. The first hurdle was getting Tony Mitchell back for another season. He felt that UNT didn't need to recruit outside of the Dallas area as it has as much talent as any other part of the country. He went on to explain to me that African American families use to migrate up north back in the 40's and 50's. When jobs became scarce, many move back to the south. This is his reason why basketball has significantly improved over the years in Texas. I countered with the fact that Texas had some antiquated rules that prohibited summer ball. I mentioned to him that I enjoyed watching his son play this past year to which he asked which one? (I had forgotten about his son at OU) Told him I saw the younger Fraschilla play in the playoffs at Lancaster HS to which he said against Kimball. He agreed that his son played well that game. At that time, his cell went off and it was his son Matt. Fran stated that Matt was playing at Denton High and he was about to cut out to head up to Denton to catch his game. Anyway, he stated that he loves Texas having married a Texan but growing up in New York. By the way, the Chicago kid actually grew on me the more I watched his game. Not an explosive or exciting type player but pretty steady. Knows how to play the game and appears to be fundamentally sound. Was the most productive guy on the court despite not starting. A nice mid-major like UNT seems to be the best fit. (Not a high major/National recruit) For anyone interested, the tournament continues through tomorrow. Most of the teams are from major metropolitan areas across the country. (New York, NJ, Chicago, Detroit etc) Seems to be a dead period for recruiting as I didn't see any coaches. Exchanged greetings with “Penny" Hardaway and Shawn Marion who were together.

http://philsteele.com/fbsinfo/SPRING/SpringGuide.html

Reviewed a listing of our guys over the years and we just haven't had any to speak of other than Juco transfers. The program was down for so long that guys preferred to go to a D1AA school to play immediately. (Sam Houston St, SWTSU, SFA etc)

Word is that none of Kimball's player lived in the Kimball zone

http://rivals.yahoo.com/southcarolina/basketball/recruiting/player-Emmanuel-Mudiay-120454 A new program has jumped into the recruitment of 2014 five-star Emmanuel Mudiay. Members of the 6-foot-4 point guard's inner circle reached out to Rivals.com on Wednesday to indicate that Washington is now under consideration for the athletic Arlington (Texas) Grace Prep floor general. Others already involved include Kentucky, Arizona, Missouri, North Carolina, SMU, TCU, Virginia, North Texas, Kansas, Baylor and Texas, among others.

Old news on Frazier. Everyone knows recruiting is rampart in Dallas and most metropolitan areas. The UIL and Brett Shipp are jokes! Shipp only runs with stories involving 5 star athletics and state champs. (Predominately DISD) Right Tony and Jordan? Kids have been transferring to other schools (for athletic reasons) for years. The UIL is well aware but does not have the resourses to police it. Instead, they don't act until the Brett Shipps of the world forces their hand. Coaches don't tell on each other because their team is generally loaded with kids outside of their community. It's 2012 Brett, get with the program. This is not breaking news!